Potential Parti Québécois leadership candidate Alexandre Cloutier has broken his silence and says not only does he have lots of support, but that the party will survive the turmoil sparked by Pierre Karl Péladeau’s departure.
And at the same time, the list of people officially mulling over a run for the top job is getting longer. Following on the heels of Marie-Victorin MNA Bernard Drainville, Vachon MNA Véronique Hivon and Rousseau MNA Nicolas Marceau, Rosemont MNA Jean-François Lisée added his name to the list Wednesday.
Jean-François Lisée
Officials close to Lisée, a former adviser to Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard and a man with five children, confirmed he’s in a period of reflection about running, in his case, for a second time.
He dropped out of the 2015 campaign, which elected Péladeau, after concluding he didn’t have a chance because his fellow péquistes wanted to experience “their Péladeau moment.”
But with the debt he incurred in that campaign paid off, Lisée — currently in France — is leaning toward taking another stab at it.
On Tuesday Lisée issued his own statement expressing regret Péladeau left.
“We won’t find another leader of this calibre,” Lisée wrote of the man he once described as a “time bomb” for the party. His comments earned him much scorn inside the party at the time.
The fresh manoeuvring comes with news it’s all but certain Cloutier, the MNA for Lac-Saint-Jean who placed second to Péladeau in 2015, will run again.
Having never really dismantled his campaign team, it’s already been reactivated. A new version of his old program is in the works.
Cloutier put on his own show of strength Wednesday, issuing a note in which he reassures the party that it has been through rough-and-tumble times in the past and will rise again.
Cloutier does not clarify whether he will seek the PQ crown — he is already considered the front-runner and just waiting to announce — but says he is very thankful to the “thousands” who have expressed their support and “great affection” toward him over the last few days.
“It warms the heart,” Cloutier said.
He says the priority for the PQ is to pick an interim leader, someone ready to do battle with the Liberal government as of Tuesday when the National Assembly resumes sitting. Being an efficient opposition is the PQ’s first duty as a political party, he says.
“Clearly the unexpected events of the last few days have shaken the PQ,” Cloutier writes. “But it is my experience, having gone through every crisis since 2007 — defeats, departures, resignations — that I can confirm the PQ has seen worse and will get back on its feet.”
“Together we will pick ourselves up, as we always have. We should come out of this stronger. To win in 2018. For Quebec. For Quebecers.”
Cloutier made the remarks as the PQ prepares for its first post-Péladeau caucus meeting Friday to pick an interim leader.
The leading candidates include Taschereau MNA Agnès Maltais and Jonquière MNA Sylvain Gaudreault.
Veronique Hivon
Behind the scenes phones are ringing with reports of attempts by third parties to cook up a backroom deal in which Hivon would throw her support to Cloutier as she did in 2015.
Such a move could scare off other candidates and lead to a tidy crowning of Cloutier, thus avoiding a long divisive campaign, which can leave scars.
“There is reflecting to do, so I am going to do it.” — Joliette MNA Véronique Hivon
But Hivon made it clear Wednesday that she’s considering a run for the job.
“There is reflecting to do, so I am going to do it,” Hivon told 98.5 FM radio.
In the 2015 race the hugely popular Hivon’s support helped Cloutier place second to Péladeau with 29 per cent of the vote. She ruled out running at the time for family reasons.
If she ran, there is speculation she would siphon off a third or maybe half of the members planning to vote Cloutier, who is expected to run regardless of her decision.
Martine Ouellet
Meanwhile, it’s unclear what another former candidate, Martine Ouellet, will do. She placed third in 2015 with 13.2 per cent of the vote. And there is no word yet from former PQ MNA Jean-Martin Aussant.
